As the GIANTS get set to fly north and take on the Lions at the Gabba on Sunday afternoon, we’ve been keeping a close eye on all the news coming from the Den this week.
The Lions may be on a nine-game losing streak but their effort against the Gold Coast Suns last weekend, where they went down by 26-points, was much improved.
Coach Justin Leppitsch said post game he was encouraged by the form of some of the Lions’ younger players.
Forward Eric Hipwood was a key target inside forward 50, kicking a career-high four goals in just his third game.
Harris Andrews started in defence and struggled on Suns Rising Star nominee Peter Wright, but kicked two goals when moved forward.
His replacement down back, Daniel McStay, had kicked two goals earlier in the match, and was lively off half-back.
"Our young forwards were pretty good again, [they were] having a crack in the air," Leppitsch said.
The Lions abandoned their chip-kicking style across half-back, and often used chains of handballs to break down the Suns' defence through the middle of the ground
It resulted in their highest score for the season.
"I just thought we played with a bit of freedom today – there's still some lessons to take out of it, don't get me wrong," Leppitsch said.
"Our inside 50 stuff was good and I thought our forward movement was OK.
"We made a few too many errors, really."
In injury news, Lions medical staff are confident Darcy Gardiner (ankle), Daniel Rich (concussion), Daniel Merrett (knee) and Mitch Robinson (shoulder) will all be fit to play against the GIANTS on Sunday.
Robinson completed a skills session with the rehab group on Tuesday and ran laps of the boundary.
Lions Head of Physiotherapy Shane Lemcke told LionsTV: “Mitch hurt his shoulder in the first quarter but was able to finish the game. He is a bit bruised and banged up so we’ll modify his training this week.
"We imagine he’ll be ready to play come Sunday.”
The Lions are also set to be steadied by the return of running defender Tom Cutler to face the GIANTS.
Cutler had minor hamstring damage sustained in the Lions' loss to the West Coast Eagles in Round 13.
The 21-year-old, who is enjoying a career best season, trained with the main group today.
Young Lion Josh McGuinness is a 50-50 chance to be available this weekend. He injured his hamstring in the Reserves.
“Josh tightened up in his right hamstring at the end of the second quarter. He’s had issues in that area in the past so we decided to be conservative on the day and see how it panned out,” Lemcke said.
“It’s pretty minor and we’re hopeful he might get up this weekend, if not he might just miss the one game.”
There were also some solid performances in the Lions Reserves' narrow loss to the Suns with several names in the mix to line up in the senior side on Sunday.
Jackson Paine played an integral cog in the Lions backline, finishing with 26 disposals and eight marks, kick-starting several counter-attacks from deep in defence.
Nick Robertson (25 disposals, one goal) and Josh Clayton (24 disposals, 7 tackles, one goal) were major ball-winners, while Liam Dawson (15 disposals, nine tackles) chipped in with a handy two goals.
Running defender Claye Beams and midfielder Ben Keays were both strong also.
The GIANTS take on the Brisbane Lion at the Gabba on Sunday afternoon.
